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DT James Smith (Official Thread)

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Ohio State football key transfer portal addition has clearly wasted no time in making his presence felt in Columbus​

One of Ohio State’s biggest transfer portal additions is already sticking out.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have a whopping 51 new players on their roster for the 2026 season. It’s an irregularly high number for Ohio State, but that’s the state of college football these days with the transfer portal, especially when you have another large NFL draft class exiting.

Ohio State was semi-aggressive in the transfer portal back in January with several key additions made. The presence of one of those key additions is already being felt in Columbus.

Ohio State’s top transfer portal addition is coming with a serious attitude​

Alabama transfer DT James Smith was a crucial addition for the Buckeyes and he figures to be their starting nose tackle to replace Kayden McDonald. Smith is clearly already leaving his mark on the program.

“Still trying to recover and get my heart rate back down from the intimidation factor of being in close proximity to an angry James Smith,” 97.1 The Fan’s Austin Ward said on Monday. “New guy, number three, interesting number choice for someone playing down there in the nose position.”

“It had already been told to me by multiple people, some on the coaching staff. Some [people] not on the coaching staff, you can figure out who those people are if you want, it’s not that difficult probably. But [they] said he is a very serious human being, said ‘I’ll smile when we start winning’, which sounded like a threat and think [it] might have been.”



Smith is a former five-star recruit who spent the first three seasons and 37 games of his college career with the Crimson Tide. Smith has been a solid force at 6-foot-2 and 313 pounds to the point, but there’s still untapped potential there, and he hasn’t quite lived up to the ranking he has as a recruit.

In 2025, Smith made 28 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, and 2.5 sacks in 13 games played. His serious demeanor he goes about with and his physical presence are exactly what Ohio State will want to throw at teams with the middle of their defensive line.
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Ohio State football transfer portal addition made a major statement one SEC school isn’t going to like at all​

The first year Buckeye is expected to be a standout on defense after playing multiple years in the SEC.

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Alabama transfer James Smith gets honest about what he thinks about Ohio State so far ​

“It kind of gave me that feeling back from when I visited as a freshman with Saban, it kind of felt like that a lot,” Smith said on Thursday. “I ain’t gonna lie, I came here and they ain’t lied to me one time. Nothing coach Larry Johnson told me, he told me it’s gonna be hard, I was okay with that.”


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scarletandgame.com

Ohio State transfer from Alabama embarrasses Kalen DeBoer: 'Not another Saban'

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive tackle transfer James Smith perhaps unintentionally destroyed his former head coach, Kalen DeBoer, while explaining his decision t
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Ohio State transfer from Alabama embarrasses Kalen DeBoer: 'Not another Saban'​

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While Smith said he had "no really big reason" to transfer, and claimed he just needed a new start while talking up the Alabama football program, he later let his real feelings be known while trying not to be divisive.

Read between the lines, and you'll see that Smith basically admitted that some combination of DeBoer, Nick Saban, and/or their coaching staffs lied to him. You'll also read plainly that Smith signed up with the Tide to play for Saban, and had no hope of DeBoer living up to the same "Bama Standard."

“(Ohio State) kind of gave me, like that feeling back when I visited as a freshman with Saban, it kind of felt like that,” Smith said of choosing Ohio State. “Because here, I ain’t gonna lie, I came here, they didn’t lie to me not one time. Nothing they told me, (Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson) told me, it’s gonna be hard. So I was OK with that.

“Inside the building (DeBoer) was doing his job ... He’s taking over for a big — It’s not going to be another Saban, so I don’t know, you can’t expect that out of him, but he’s doing the best he can, he’s working.

“I just feel like the intensity is different ... I wouldn’t even say the intensity, it’s just like, everything’s so intentional. Everybody’s already laid out. They came in with a new coaching staff at ‘Bama, so it’s like they’re all still trying to learn and stuff. Here it’s already stable and they already know.”

Ryan Day's practices are more intense than Kalen DeBoer's. Without question.

Smith stopped short of saying it's the intensity that separates Alabama and Ohio State, but we know it's true. Ryan Day's practices are physically testing offensive skill-position freshmen every second, whereas DeBoer famously doesn't practice as hard because he believes he can outscheme opponents, and the trenches don't need to physically dominate.
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